As connected devices increasingly bridge cloud infrastructure and physical environments, systems level engineering decisions are shaping how reliability, performance, and intelligence scale across modern software ecosystems. Omkar Wagle is a Software Engineer II specializing in high availability protocols andC++ systems architecture for large scale distributed storage.
His experience spans Roku Inc., where he optimized embedded and developer tooling systems, and HealthAsyst Pvt Ltd., where he engineered Linux based IoT platforms and Zigbee protocol integrations. In this exclusive interview with All Tech, he discusses how connected devices have evolved, where efficiency gains matter most, and how thoughtful systems design is redefining performance, security, and usability across consumer electronics and healthcare platforms.
1. You have worked on connected systems across consumer electronics and healthcare platforms. How have you seen connected devices evolve in the past decade, and what changes are having the biggest impact on everyday users?
When I was architecting the multithreaded C/C++ system software for a Linux-based IoT Gateway, the paradigm was clear: the gateway had to be the robust, primary hub. Our focus was on complex, system-level tasks like managing the Zigbee network, normalizing all data, and implementing a resilient Over the Air firmware upgrade mechanism via HTTP. The gateway was the chokepoint, and my job was to make it reliable and secure.
Today, that model has dissolved. The rise of robust cloud infrastructure, coupled with the rollout of 5G and high-efficiency Wi-Fi connectivity, means devices no longer need a large, centralized home brain. Processing is now smartly distributed. Simple tasks are handled on device at the edge, complex analytics and data storage are handled in the cloud, and the gateway role has become lighter, often simply serving as a high-speed local hub.
This shift fundamentally improved scalability and reduced the cost of individual end devices. The most powerful shift is that devices have moved from being mere data collectors to decision makers. The data we were reliably collecting and transmitting a few years ago is now being funneled into real-time machine learning models.
This convergence means connected devices can now anticipate needs, detect patterns, and trigger actions autonomously. In consumer electronics, this enables predictive maintenance. In healthcare, it unlocks the true potential of the IoMT by using AI to interpret continuous physiological data for predictive health insights and remote diagnostics.
If I had to pick the one area that has changed the average person’s life the most, it would be the democratization of personal health monitoring. Before, health devices were clinical, expensive, and used only in a hospital setting. Now, that same technology has been miniaturized and integrated into everyday wearables.
This has transformed personal health from a reactive behavior to a proactive one. Users now have continuous insight into their vital signs, sleep patterns, and activity. This is not just about fitness; it is about managing chronic conditions, getting early alerts, and facilitating remote care through telemedicine. This empowerment, giving individuals control over their own health data, is a monumental change that is fundamentally altering the patient-provider relationship.
2. At Roku, you worked on improving embedded systems for home electronics. What did that experience teach you about how more brilliant software design can make devices faster, more reliable, and easier for people to use?
My experience at Roku, where I focused on optimizing the core software for high-volume streaming devices, was a direct education in how deep engineering work creates simple, reliable products for everyday users. A user does not care about the chip inside; they just want the video to start right away. When a device buffers or freezes, the software is poorly managed.
I identified a memory leak in a partner SoC during memory profiling, which seems like a deep, low-level issue, but its impact was massive. It led to a significant improvement in bandwidth headroom from 8 percent to 26 percent. In a streaming device, that increase in available bandwidth is the difference between smooth, crisp 4K playback and buffering or dropped frames. A technical optimization in the OS layer directly became a superior, faster, and frustration-free streaming experience for millions of users.
Making devices more reliable was equally critical. If a product is constantly freezing or breaking, the software foundation is weak. I designed and developed a mechanism to detect and prevent accidental sharing of Roku IP modules via tools like Copybara and Bazel. This ensured architectural integrity and prevented proprietary code from being compromised or cloned, which is a massive win for long-term product reliability and competitive standing.
I also implemented a Flask application to process GitLab notifications and verify the presence of new modules in each merge request. This automation significantly reduced code audit efforts by approximately 60 percent. By catching integration errors and security risks early and automatically, the team delivered higher quality, more reliable software that builds faster.
Proactive protection was another key lesson. Security is about more than just passwords, it is about protecting the product’s very identity and function. I designed a workflow that protected Roku’s secret, proprietary software, ensuring that none of the unique features or code could accidentally be shared outside the company. This shielded the product from competitors and attackers while preserving its long term value.
3. You also helped build IoT platforms earlier in your career. From that work, what do you see as the most important qualities of a well designed connected device today?
Having built those foundational IoT platforms earlier in my career, specifically the IoT Gateway at HealthAsyst, I developed a strong appreciation for the non-negotiable qualities of a truly effective connected device.
For a well-designed connected device today, the most important qualities fall into three key areas.
Architectural resilience is critical. A device must gracefully handle network dropouts, power failures, and intermittent connections without losing state or corrupting data. My experience with bi-directional TCP/IP communication bridges and low-power protocols like Zigbee reinforced the importance of intelligent retry logic, clear state machines, and mechanisms like the in memory writing strategy for SQLite3 to protect data integrity during sudden power loss. If a device is brittle, it is useless.
Secure, atomic over-the-air updates are non-negotiable. A connected device is a security liability if it cannot be patched. The update process must either fully succeed or fully fail and roll back, preventing the device from being bricked. Updates must also be encrypted and authenticated. A great device assumes it will be updated frequently and manages that process flawlessly.
Efficiency and longevity matter. A scalable, affordable device must be an incredibly efficient user of system resources. Minimal latency is essential for responsiveness, ensuring that health alerts or simple controls react in fractions of a second.
Compatibility and security by design complete the picture. The value of a connected device lies in its ability to participate in a larger ecosystem. Embracing standards like Matter, MQTT, and standardized APIs prevents isolation. Because devices collect sensitive data, particularly in healthcare, encrypted communication, secured storage, and explicit user controls must be baked into the architecture from the start.
4. Your background spans both cloud based systems and devices that run at the edge. How is this combination shaping the way connected products share information, make decisions, and stay responsive?
This is the core architectural challenge. The future is not about edge or cloud, but a single integrated architecture. The old model of sending everything to the cloud is inefficient and costly.
Today, devices perform edge filtration and preprocessing. My experience managing diverse Zigbee data streams showed the importance of filtering locally and sending only aggregated, compressed, or event driven data. This dramatically reduces bandwidth usage and cloud storage costs.
Low latency local communication remains essential. While the cloud excels at storage and heavy analytics, fast local protocols enable peer to peer communication without routing every interaction through the cloud Decision-making is now partitioned. Real-time, context-dependent decisions must happen at the edge, while complex predictive analysis and AI inference belong in the cloud. My work on high-availability cloud systems reinforced how critical it is that this upper layer of intelligence is always reachable and resilient.
5. You have driven major efficiency improvements in large scale systems. As connected devices become more common, where do you see the biggest opportunities to reduce waste and improve performance?
Efficiency today comes from optimizing the entire loop, not just one component. The biggest gains come from addressing both device-level inefficiencies and system level architecture flaws.
At the device level, waste often comes from inefficient energy, bandwidth, and storage usage. Purposeful data pipelining, processing data locally and sending only anomalies or trends, conserves battery life and reduces cloud costs. Techniques like in-memory database writes reduce storage wear, accelerate response times, and extend device lifespan.
At the platform level, preventing downtime delivers the greatest performance improvement. Intelligent, automated high-availability systems that trigger failovers before failures occur ensure continuous availability, which is critical for user trust and revenue at scale.
6. Many people worry about security in connected devices. What practices make systems safer without slowing them down?
Security concerns are justified, but speed and safety are not trade-offs. Making connected devices safer without slowing them down comes down to foundational design choices. Security must be baked into the system, not layered on. Stable, well-structured multithreaded software reduces attack surfaces while improving performance. Preventing race conditions creates systems that are both faster and more secure.
Updates must be safe and immediate. The biggest vulnerability is outdated software. Atomic Over the Air updates ensure devices can be patched quickly without risking failure. Protecting data efficiently improves both security and speed. Techniques that reduce write operations and control internal data flow protect against corruption while accelerating system responsiveness.
7. As devices increasingly communicate with each other, what should companies prioritize to keep networks stable and dependable?
As connected ecosystems grow, stability depends on interoperability and resilience. Devices must communicate using standardized, lightweight protocols to avoid unnecessary complexity and instability. Local resilience is critical. Systems must assume internet connectivity will fail and ensure essential functions continue locally.
Dependability also requires deep code and data integrity. Preventing race conditions, protecting data during power loss, and managing resources efficiently reduce bottlenecks and ensure networks remain dependable under load.
8. Looking ahead, how will the next generation of connected devices change homes, workplaces, and industrial environments?
The next generation of connected devices will create adaptive, autonomous, and predictive environments. Homes will shift from collections of smart gadgets to holistic systems that anticipate needs, adjusting lighting, temperature, and air quality automatically while enabling predictive maintenance and ambient health monitoring.
Workplaces will become more efficient and personalized, dynamically optimizing space, energy use, productivity, and security through seamless access and configuration.
Industrial environments will see the most dramatic change. Digital and physical systems will fully converge, enabling autonomous factories with predictive maintenance, near-zero downtime, and end-to-end supply chain transparency.
